More Robust Checks for Online Prescription Drugs

The General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) has called for extra checks to be carried out by online pharmacies before providing medication to patients.

The GPhC has expressed concern at the findings of a BBC investigation in which several online pharmacies provided the BBC’s investigators with restricted medication without the proper assessments, with some restricted anti-anxiety medication and painkillers requiring only a completed online questionnaire before being prescribed to patients.

Current guidance from the regulator the GPhC states that online prescribers should obtain ‘all the information they need’ before prescribing medication which may be identified as high-risk, however, there is some concern that the current guidelines are too vague.

The parents of Katie Corrigan, a young woman who died in 2020 after accidentally overdosing on medication she purchased online, are among those calling for online pharmacies to be stricter in obtaining background information before prescribing medication that may not be suitable for the patient. The coroner at Katie Corrigan’s inquest reported that the safety controls around pharmacies who had prescribed to Katie had been inadequate.

With many people facing delays in obtaining appointments with their GP and turning to online pharmacies for speed and convenience, there is perhaps now more than ever a greater need to ensure online pharmacies are taking proper precautions to protect patients. Since the BBC’s findings, the GPhC has issued a statement claiming they have taken regulatory action against online pharmacies who fell short of professional standards, and that habit-forming or high-risk medication should not be provided online unless further safeguards have been put in place.

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